Amy Prieto & The Elusive Mighty Battery

Wind, solar, electric cars ­- all have a toehold in the American energy mix, but there’s one technical dilemma holding them back: batteries. Batteries are essential energy storage devices for anything touted as clean tech but right now they’re limited to a few hours of performance: they’re expensive, big and chemically dangerous.

Touted as the holy grail of green machines, there’s an international race going on to build a better battery. The people in that race will not only shift our energy future, they stand to make a lot of money.

Amy Prieto, a chemist at Colorado State University, has designed a battery that seemingly has the right stuff. She’s created a prototype that recharges in a few minutes, discharges slowly, and is manufactured using non-toxic chemicals. She still has to solve some big challenges before the prototype can become a battery she can put in the hands of consumers, and that will likely take a few more years.

Alex visits Amy Prieto and her team to learn just what the Prieto Battery is about and why creating a better battery is so difficult.

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